


surprises like snowflakes in the quiet of night

by Avali



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: (Have you read Resistance Reborn? You should go read it.), Christmas, F/M, Here's some happy nonsense to balance out all your sadness, Holidays, I don't even care, M/M, Poe Dameron has great hair, Post-Resistance Reborn, Post-TLJ, Secret Santa gift exchanges, Shenanigans, So don't expect anything serious, That's Not How The Force Works, This is some straight-up nonsense, force skype, happy holidays!, no betas we die like men, pre-tros
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-24
Updated: 2019-12-24
Packaged: 2021-02-26 07:02:02
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 2,564
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21939397
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Avali/pseuds/Avali
Summary: To raise morale amongst the Resistance, Poe Dameron organizes a space-secret-Santa-gift-exchange, but his plans are thrown off when someone else starts leaving Rey (his assigned giftee) presents.
Relationships: Poe Dameron/Finn, Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren
Comments: 8
Kudos: 62





	1. Chapter 1 - Pastries and Presents

**Author's Note:**

> There is nothing to take seriously here, just saying. I just was feeling in the holiday spirit, I guess.
> 
> This is set after TLJ and after Rebecca Roanhorse's Resistance Reborn (one of the best SW books I've read this year--GO READ IT) but before TRoS.
> 
> Have some happiness. I'd give you a pastry if you were here.

While definitely not the most dangerous mission he’d ever done, Poe Dameron was starting to think that this one might have been the most challenging.

Morale had been...not good after Crait. Pleas for help went unanswered, friends remained silent, and yet, still--the Resistance was being reborn. They had a base other than the Falcon. More beings had come to join them--there were still people willing to stand up to tyranny.

And then Poe had his genius idea.

He knew that the holiday celebrations would be muted at best. So many of them had lost family, or were far away from family, or any number of other tragedies, but that didn’t mean they should let that oppressive feeling hang over them any more than they were going to tolerate oppression anywhere else. Obviously, buying gifts for everyone in the Resistance would be too expensive.

A secret gift-exchange, though?

Totally doable.

It had actually been C-3P0 who suggested they call it Bothan Buddies--after all, Bothans had the best spy network and covertly getting gifts to your assigned buddy was part of the mission.

The grins he’d watched sneak up on faces when he’d debriefed them all in the command central had been completely worth it. He and BB-8 had taken the time to record every name and then BB-8 had shuffled them to their assigned Bothan Buddy. BB-8 had delivered the news individually to each member of the Resistance and then promptly deleted the file from his databanks.

A list of everyone in the Resistance was...not something that anyone wanted to leave around.

The rules had been simple enough. Get the present to your buddy without them noticing. All presents had to be in before they shared their holiday meal. (Ration packs, sure, but at least they’d eat together as family.) At the meal, everyone would guess who their buddy was...and the truth would come out. Happy holidays, put a bow on it and call it good.

BB-8 had matched Rey to Poe, and he’d taken up the challenge with the same tenacity that he took up everything with. Rey, after all, had probably never even had holiday celebrations in her life, so Poe definitely wanted to make it worth it for her.

What did a person get for a budding Jedi? He knew he could have asked Leia, but he still didn’t want to mention the Jedi at all after Luke’s sacrifice, even though he was pretty sure she’d picked up Rey’s Jedi training.

He’d spent so much time fretting about whether the entire operation was going to go off smoothly--after all, he didn’t want anyone to go without a present, that wouldn’t be good--that he only had a two days left to figure out what he was going to do for the girl. Today, the eve of the eve of the event. Tomorrow, the eve of the event. The day after tomorrow, the event itself.

He’d thought about asking Finn, but then again, the point was to keep your Bothan Buddy a secret. So he’d refrained from that too.

Speaking of Rey, he noticed her coming out for her morning tea. Maybe he could start a conversation with her, somehow figure out what might make her happy.

Finn was already with her, and they were talking animatedly about something. Poe picked up the caf he’d made for himself before and moseyed his way over to them.

“Last night, they weren’t there, and this morning, they were!” Rey was saying, holding up what appeared to be a small tray of sweets. “And I sleep on the Falcon with the door to my room locked, so I have no idea how they pulled it off.” 

“Pulled what off?” Poe blinked, looking down at the tray of tiny sweets. Finn was helping himself to another.

“My Bothan Buddy,” she grinned, holding out the tray. “They somehow snuck these into my room last night. I’ve never had anything like them--you have to try one, Poe.”

Wait, her what?

“Your buddy brought those to you,” Poe repeated.

“I mean, it had to have been them,” Rey shrugged, popping another one of the pastries into her mouth whole. He wasn’t sure who looked more disturbed by that--himself or Finn. “Who else would break into my locked room and leave me a bunch of sweets?”

She looked so happy, shoving another pastry whole into her mouth. Finn reached over and wiped the powdered sugar off her cheek.

Someone else thought Rey was their Bothan Buddy.

That would make all the numbers wrong, which meant someone was going without a present.

No.

Not on Poe’s watch.

/////

“BB, seriously, are you sure you didn’t mess up the algorithm?” Poe hissed to the droid, glancing around the hallway to make sure no one else was listening in.

BB-8 beeped an indignant trill. Of course he’d done the algorithm right, it wasn’t like it was complicated to match everyone up.

“Do you still have the master file? I just need to be sure--”

The proud whirr that came from his droid confirmed his worst fears. Of course BB-8 had deleted the file completely, just like he had promised Poe he would do.

“What’s going on?”

Poe jumped and whirled around, but it was only Finn.

“You scared the crap out of me!” Poe frowned. “You can’t go sneaking up on man like that!”

“Sorry?” Finn’s face scrunched up like he did when he was confused. Poe liked that. Of course, there wasn’t much about the man that Poe didn’t appreciate. “Is something wrong?”

He debated keeping it a secret and then sighed, plopping down by BB-8. After a moment, Finn slid down the wall to join him.

“I don’t know who gave Rey those sweets,” he said.

“That’s kind of the point?”

“Let me--let me get to the point here,” Poe took a deep breath. “I am supposed to be Rey’s buddy, and I did not leave those pastries there. Hell, I don’t even know where on this base someone even managed to find those!”

“So someone else is giving gifts to Rey?” Finn paused. “That means…”

“That Rey’s buddy is not giving a gift to the person they were assigned, which means someone’s going to get left out,” Poe frowned. “I don’t want anyone to get left out, Finn,” he admitted, voice softer than he would have liked. “I don’t want to mess it up again.”

“We’ll figure it out,” Finn said, standing up and reaching down to Poe. He took the man’s hand gratefully and allowed him to pull him to his feet. “Me, you, BB-8. We’ll solve the mystery.”

“Thanks, man,” Poe smiled. “You have no idea how much I appreciate it.”

“It’s the least I can do,” Finn smiled. Poe liked that smile too. It suited him.

And honestly, so did him growing out his hair.

Poe almost liked it more than he liked his own.

Now that was saying something.


	2. Chapter 2 - Secrets and Sweets

It had been a long day of Jedi training, and Rey was exhausted.

She’d cleaned up and found the softest clothes she owned, planning on turning in early for the night.

There was, of course, the slight issue of the lock on her door.

Though she was impressed her Bothan Buddy managed to sneak in without waking her up, the fact remained that she locked her door. If the lock wasn’t working, then she needed to know why.

She checked over the mechanism on the door, but it didn’t appear to be sliced or picked or anything.

Whoever this person was, they were good.

Maybe it was General Organa? Rey thought about it, pondering. That would make sense. Leia would know how to navigate the Falcon better than anyone. She probably wouldn’t have to hack into Rey’s door--she likely knew the passcode from all the years she had spent on it.

Still, just in case, Rey put a bunch of miscellaneous things she found around the room in a basket, balancing it precariously in front of the door on its side. When the door opened, it would make enough of a noise that surely she would wake up.

Content with her plan, Rey climbed into bed and passed out nearly immediately.

///

That night, she dreamed of Ben.

No, Kylo Ren.

Supreme Leader Kylo Ren.

It was like any of the other Force connections. She, still laying in bed. He, standing, probably looking out a window or something, his back turned to her.

Part of her wanted to reach out for him like she’d done that day. Beg him to change his mind. Luke had sensed the goodness left in Darth Vader, and she….sensed it even more in Ben Solo. There was still good in there, good buried under years of terror and bad decisions.

It didn’t make him entirely good. He’d done terrible things. She recognized that. He’d had the chance to walk away from it all and he hadn’t taken it.

She’d sensed his fear.

It was...complicated, all of it.

Now, she sensed his frustration. This strange distance between them, even though she could reach out and touch him. She wanted to say something. He wanted to say something.

There was nothing left to say.

So she didn’t reach for him, and instead just waited with him in strained silence for the connection to fade.

/////

Rey awoke early the next morning. Her sleep had been restless, light and fitful, coming in bursts--especially after the dream (not dream?) of Ben--Kylo.

She felt a little groggy as she got dressed, grabbed the Jedi book she was currently reading and the lightsaber, and went to--

And there it was.

On the little table by her door, where she usually kept loose credits and the strange but small oddities that had collected in her pockets over the years.

Another package of goodies and a single solitary flower.

Somehow, her Bothan Buddy had got past her again.


	3. Chapter 3 - Results and Reckonings

Rey had shown him the sweets she’d received again. She also had a flower tucked into one of her buns, which Poe figured came with the gift.

In a panic, he’d dug through all the oddities on the base. R2-D2 had walked him through the process, and he had--more or less--made a cute little replica of BB-8, palm-sized. Rey loved BB-8. Everybody loved BB-8.

He had it in a small box. His plan was when everyone went around and said what they got and made their guesses, he’d just go last, and when someone was inevitably like, “I didn’t get a present!” he’d jump up and run to the rescue.

He still hated it, though. He’d tried to hard to make it perfect. 

Still yet, they’d celebrated.

Songs were sung, dances from other planets taught and shared. Somehow, the ration packs tasted even better than usual, and someone had built a small but crackling and cozy fire despite the fact the weather didn’t exactly necessitate it. 

Poe looked around at the smiles on all his friends’ faces.

This. This was what the holidays were about.

/////

The time finally came. The circle felt huge, and that was even better. Would it take longer to make the guesses and confess the truth? Obviously, but that was the point. There were more of them now than there were at Crait. This, this was the victory.

He made sure he was last, and held his breath when it got to Rey.

“The pastries were delicious,” she smiled shyly. She still wasn’t one for large crowds. “General Organa?”

“It’s Leia,” the woman smiled, “And no. They weren’t from me.”

Poe, of course, produced the new comb that someone had gotten him, which really was an amazing gift because he’d lost his last pocket comb in a skirmish or something, because it definitely was gone.

He held it up for everyone to see, and a couple of people laughed.

They were probably just jealous of his hair. Everyone was.

“Mine has to be from General Organa,” he grinned. “No one else appreciates how fabulous my hair is.”

Leia laughed again. It was so good to see her smiling. He was afraid, after losing both Luke and Han and her shitty kid, that she’d never smile again.

“Also not me.”

So they went back around the circle--despite everyone guessing Leia, the general had drawn Chewbacca, which made sense. No one understood what Chewie’s gift was supposed to be. It had to be some sort of inside joke.

Poe waited, both to see who thought they had Rey and who had him.

“I had Poe’s,” Finn grinned.

BB-8 chirped a silly little trill quiet enough for only Poe to hear, and Poe shot a look down at the droid, who clearly hadn’t left that one to chance.

“I love it,” Poe smiled.

But everyone made it all the way around the circle, and while everyone had a present--no one said Rey.

So when it finally got to him, he smiled, and proudly announced he had Rey’s name.

So...where had the pastries come from?

/////

Poe gave Finn a hug and thanked him for the comb as the party was dispersing and made his way over to Rey.

“Where in this galaxy did you find those sweets?” she asked, her eyes wide. “I want to go buy my own.”

“I...those weren’t from me,” he admitted, handing her the small box. She opened it and gave a tiny gasp of delight at the scrappy little BB-8 model. “This was. I was confused because you already had your gifts and they weren’t from me...and apparently whoever they were from is gonna stay a secret. Guess you have a secret friend, Rey!”

There was a look of dawning comprehension on her face, but whatever it was, she didn’t reveal it.

That wasn’t surprising. Rey was just kind of like that.

“Either way, thank you,” Rey smiled, shaking off whatever had been bothering her and giving Poe a quick hug. “This was...this was really nice. I hope we can keep doing this.”

“Me too,” Poe grinned. “Happy holidays, Rey.”


	4. Chapter 4 - Epiphanies and Epilogues

That night, Rey waited outside under a canopy of stars.

The vision began, as usual. And Ben--would it truly hurt to think of him as Ben, to hold out some sort of hope? Rebellions were built on hope, right?--kept his back to her, as usual.

The little piece of metal in her hand wasn’t much. Just a trinket she’d picked up on Jakku. Not worth anything, but it had been decorative and pretty and she’d just kept it in her pocket for years along with a bunch of other oddities.

It was strange to think that this might work, but he’d clearly been doing it for her.

She stood up and quietly moved closer to him, laying the medallion behind his feet.

The vision closed, and the medallion was gone.

It was a far dream to hope that somehow he’d come around, but from the stories and songs sung on the base that night, she knew. That’s what the entire point of these celebrations were about. Hope, that things would go on, that tomorrow would be brighter.

The night around her was still and silent, but Rey held fast to that dream, as stars twinkled like snowflakes in the sky above her, full of endless possibilities.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, I'll get back to work on my real fics now that this nonsense is drained from my mind. XD Happy holidays, y'all!


End file.
